Roy Michael Huffington was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 oil

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

man originally from Tomball

Tomball, Texas

Tomball is a city in Harris county in the U.S. state of Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The population was 9,089 at the 2000 census. In 1907, the community of Peck was renamed Tomball. The city are named for local congressman Thomas Henry Ball, who had a major role in the...

 in Harris County

Harris County, Texas

As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, who later served as United States Ambassador to Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

Early career

Huffington graduated from Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 and earned both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

. After serving as, first ensign

Ensign

An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...

 and then lieutenant commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 from 1942–1945, he returned to Texas in 1946 and worked as a field geologist for Humble Oil, now known as Exxon

Exxon

Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....

, U.S.A.

HUFFCO

In 1956, he set up his own oil and natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 exploration company known as Roy M. Huffington, Inc. (Huffco). Huffco grew to be a major independent international oil company active around the world. In 1966 HUFFCO signed production sharing contract with Pertamina to explore oil in the Kutai Basin of the Mahakam River

Mahakam River

The Mahakam River is in Indonesia. It flows 980 km from the district of Long Apari in the highlands of Borneo, to its mouth at the Makassar Strait....

 delta in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. Initially the exploration object was oil, but finally Huffco discovered a giant natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 reserve in 1972 at Badak Field. Then Huffco and Pertamina initiated to build an LNG plant in Bontang. First shipping was in August 1977, only five years after discovery.

Later career

In 1990, all properties of the company were sold to the Chinese Petroleum Corporation of Taiwan and HUFFCO became VICO.

Huffington served as Ambassador to Austria from 1990 to 1993. He returned to Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 and resumed the position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Roy M. Huffington, Inc., an independent international oil company.

Philanthropy

Roy Huffington joined the Board of the Salzburg Global Seminar, an international policy center based in Salzburg, Austria, with offices in Washington, DC, while serving as U.S. Ambassador to Austria. In 1994, he was elected Chair of the Salzburg Global Seminar Board, a position he held until 2007. Huffington also served as the chairman of the Asia Society

Asia Society

The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...

, a New York-based charity, for seven years in the 1980s.

He also founded the Huffington Foundation, a Houston-based charity.

He and his wife, the former Phyllis Gough, who died in 2003, created the Huffington Center on Aging at the Baylor College of Medicine

Baylor College of Medicine

Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...

 in Houston.

Huffington, having been a member of the Alpha Tau Omega

Alpha Tau Omega

Alpha Tau Omega is a secret American leadership and social fraternity.The Fraternity has more than 250 active and inactive chapters, more than 200,000 initiates, and over 7,000 active undergraduate members. The 200,000th member was initiated in early 2009...

 fraternity at SMU, donated a significant (undisclosed) amount of money to the Alpha Tau Omega Educational Foundation, which provides collegiate scholarships for undergraduate members of the fraternity.

Personal life

Roy and Phyllis Huffington had two children: Terry Dittman, whose family lives in Houston, and Michael Huffington

Michael Huffington

Michael Huffington is an American politician, bisexual activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for one term, 1993–1995, from California...

 (born 1947), who was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 U.S. representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 from 1993-1995. In 1994, Michael Huffington narrowly lost the election for the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 to Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Diane Feinstein. Michael Huffington was married to activist Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...

 from 1986-1997. Arianna Huffington, an unsuccessful candidate for governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of California in the 2003 recall

Recall election

A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...

 election, is the founder of the Huffington Post.

Roy Huffington died of natural causes in Venice, Italy.